scholarly journals Neurological correlates of brain reward circuitry linked to opioid use disorder (OUD): Do homo sapiens acquire or have a reward deficiency syndrome?

2020 ◽  
Vol 418 ◽  
pp. 117137
Author(s):  
Mark S. Gold ◽  
David Baron ◽  
Abdalla Bowirrat ◽  
Kenneth Blum
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Deficiency Syndrome ◽  
Opioid Use Disorder ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Reward Circuitry ◽  
Reward Deficiency Syndrome ◽  
Brain Reward

scholarly journals The Developmental Origins of Opioid Use Disorder and Its Comorbidities

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia C. Levis ◽  
Stephen V. Mahler ◽  
Tallie Z. Baram
Keyword(s):  
Opioid Use Disorder ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Early Life Adversity ◽  
Reward Circuitry ◽  
Biological Sex ◽  
New Findings ◽  
And Function ◽  
Circuit Function ◽  
Reward Circuit

Opioid use disorder (OUD) rarely presents as a unitary psychiatric condition, and the comorbid symptoms likely depend upon the diverse risk factors and mechanisms by which OUD can arise. These factors are heterogeneous and include genetic predisposition, exposure to prescription opioids, and environmental risks. Crucially, one key environmental risk factor for OUD is early life adversity (ELA). OUD and other substance use disorders are widely considered to derive in part from abnormal reward circuit function, which is likely also implicated in comorbid mental illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. ELA may disrupt reward circuit development and function in a manner predisposing to these disorders. Here, we describe new findings addressing the effects of ELA on reward circuitry that lead to OUD and comorbid disorders, potentially via shared neural mechanisms. We discuss some of these OUD-related problems in both humans and animals. We also highlight the increasingly apparent, crucial contribution of biological sex in mediating the range of ELA-induced disruptions of reward circuitry which may confer risk for the development of OUD and comorbid neuropsychiatric disorders.

scholarly journals Neuropharmacological and Neurogenetic Correlates of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) As a Function of Ethnicity: Relevance to Precision Addiction Medicine

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 578-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomilowo Abijo ◽  
Kenneth Blum ◽  
Marjorie C. Gondré-Lewis
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Deficiency Syndrome ◽  
Opioid Use Disorder ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Opioid Overdose ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Addictive Behaviors ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Addiction Medicine

Background: Over 100 people die daily from opioid overdose and $78.5B per year is spent on treatment efforts, however, the real societal cost is multifold greater. Alternative strategies to eradicate/manage drug misuse and addiction need consideration. The perception of opioid addiction as a social/criminal problem has evolved to evidence-based considerations of them as clinical disorders with a genetic basis. We present evaluations of the genetics of addiction with ancestryspecific risk profiles for consideration. Objective: Studies of gene variants associated with predisposition to substance use disorders (SUDs) are monolithic, and exclude many ethnic groups, especially Hispanics and African Americans. We evaluate gene polymorphisms that impact brain reward and predispose individuals to opioid addictions, with a focus on the disparity of research which includes individuals of African and Hispanic descent. Methodology: PubMed and Google Scholar were searched for: Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), Genome- wide association studies (GWAS); genetic variants; polymorphisms, restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP); genomics, epigenetics, race, ethnic group, ethnicity, ancestry, Caucasian/ White, African American/Black, Hispanic, Asian, addictive behaviors, reward deficiency syndrome (RDS), mutation, insertion/deletion, and promotor region. Results: Many studies exclude non-White individuals. Studies that include diverse populations report ethnicity-specific frequencies of risk genes, with certain polymorphisms specifically associated with Caucasian and not African-American or Hispanic susceptibility to OUD or SUDs, and vice versa. Conclusion: To adapt precision medicine-based addiction management in a blended society, we propose that ethnicity/ancestry-informed genetic variations must be analyzed to provide real precision- guided therapeutics with the intent to attenuate this uncontrollable fatal epidemic.

scholarly journals Epigenetic Repair of Terrifying Lucid Dreams by Enhanced Brain Reward Functional Connectivity and Induction of Dopaminergic Homeostatic Signaling

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Blum ◽  
Thomas McLaughlin ◽  
Edward J. Modestino ◽  
David Baron ◽  
Abdalla Bowirrat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Childhood Abuse ◽  
Deficiency Syndrome ◽  
Dream Content ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Lucid Dreaming ◽  
Reward Circuitry ◽  
Hyperactivity Disorder ◽  
Addiction Risk ◽  
Brain Reward

: During Lucid Dreams, the dreamer is aware, experiences the dream as if fully awake, and may control the dream content. The dreamer can start, stop, and restart dreaming, depending on the nature and pleasantness of the dream. For patients with Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS) behaviors, like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Tourette's- Syndrome, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the dream content may be pleasant, unpleasant, or terrifying. A sample of psychiatric center patients identified as having RDS reported the effectiveness of a neuronutrient, dopamine agonist, KB200Z, in combating terrifying, lucid dreaming. These reports motivated the study of eight clinical cases with known histories of substance abuse, childhood abuse, and PTSD. The administration of KB200Z, associated with eliminating unpleasant or terrifying lucid dreams in 87.5% of the cases. Subsequently, other published cases have further established the possibility of the long-term elimination of terrifying dreams in PTSD and ADHD patients. Induction of dopamine homeostasis may mitigate the effects of neurogenetic and epigenetic changes in neuroplasticity, identified in the pathogenesis of PTSD and ADHD. The article explores how relief of terrifying lucid dreams may benefit from modulation of dopaminergic signaling activated by the administration of a neuronutrient. Recently precision formulations of the KB220 neuronutrient guided by Genetic Addiction Risk Score (GARS) test results have been used to repair inheritable deficiencies within the brain reward circuitry. The proposition is that improved dopamine transmodulational signaling may stimulate positive cognitive recall and subsequently attenuate the harmful epigenetic insults from trauma.

scholarly journals Reward Deficiency Syndrome (RDS): A Cytoarchitectural Common Neurobiological Trait of All Addictions

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (21) ◽  
pp. 11529
Author(s):  
Kenneth Blum ◽  
Abdalla Bowirrat ◽  
Eric R. Braverman ◽  
David Baron ◽  
Jean Lud Cadet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Behavioral Disorders ◽  
The United States ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Deficiency Syndrome ◽  
Opioid Use Disorder ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Addiction Risk ◽  
Dopamine Signaling

Alcohol and other substance use disorders share comorbidity with other RDS disorders, i.e. a reduction in dopamine signaling within the reward pathway. RDS is a term that connects addictive, obsessive, compulsive, and impulsive behavioral disorders. An estimated 2 million individuals in the United States have opioid use disorder related to prescription opioids. It is estimated that the overall cost of the illegal and legally prescribed opioid crisis exceeds one trillion dollars. Opioid Replacement Therapy is the most common treatment for addictions and other RDS disorders. Even after repeated relapses, patients are repeatedly prescribed the same opioid replacement treatments. A recent JAMA report indicates that non-opioid treatments fare better than chronic opioid treatments. Research demonstrates that over 50 percent of all suicides are related to alcohol or other drug use. In addition to effective fellowship programs and spirituality acceptance, nutrigenomic therapies (e.g., KB220Z) optimize gene expression, rebalance neurotransmitters, and restore neurotransmitter functional connectivity. KB220Z was shown to increase functional connectivity across specific brain regions involved in dopaminergic function. KB220/Z significantly reduces RDS behavioral disorders and relapse in human DUI offenders. Taking a Genetic Addiction Risk Severity (GARS) test combined with a the KB220Z semi-customized nutrigenomic supplement effectively restores dopamine homeostasis. (WC 199).

scholarly journals A Novel Precision Approach to Overcome the “Addiction Pandemic” by Incorporating Genetic Addiction Risk Severity (GARS) and Dopamine Homeostasis Restoration

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 212
Author(s):  
Kenneth Blum ◽  
Shan Kazmi ◽  
Edward J. Modestino ◽  
B. William Downs ◽  
Debasis Bagchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Opioid Analgesic ◽  
Deficiency Syndrome ◽  
Opioid Use Disorder ◽  
Testing System ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
Addictive Disorders ◽  
Medication Assisted Treatment ◽  
Risk Alleles ◽  
Addiction Risk

This article describes a unique therapeutic precision intervention, a formulation of enkephalinase inhibitors, enkephalin, and dopamine-releasing neuronutrients, to induce dopamine homeostasis for detoxification and treatment of individuals genetically predisposed to developing reward deficiency syndrome (RDS). The formulations are based on the results of the addiction risk severity (GARS) test. Based on both neurogenetic and epigenetic evidence, the test evaluates the presence of reward genes and risk alleles. Existing evidence demonstrates that the novel genetic risk testing system can successfully stratify the potential for developing opioid use disorder (OUD) related risks or before initiating opioid analgesic therapy and RDS risk for people in recovery. In the case of opioid use disorders, long-term maintenance agonist treatments like methadone and buprenorphine may create RDS, or RDS may have been in existence, but not recognized. The test will also assess the potential for benefit from medication-assisted treatment with dopamine augmentation. RDS methodology holds a strong promise for reducing the burden of addictive disorders for individuals, their families, and society as a whole by guiding the restoration of dopamine homeostasisthrough anti-reward allostatic neuroadaptations. WC 175

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document